Within the present invention, &lt;&lt;laminated cells&gt;&gt; means any sealed structure formed of two plates at least one of which is transparent, the space thereby delimited being filled with a liquid, said liquid being generally an active material, as is the case in liquid crystal display cells or in photoelectrochemical cells. When these laminated cells are of small dimensions, it is economically advantageous to manufacture them, not by the unit, but in batches from a common substrate, then to cut them to subsequently use them individually in the equipment for which they are intended.
In order to manufacture a laminated cell, the method basically consists in depositing on a first plate, for example made of glass, a sealing frame, for example in the form of a line made of an adhesive material, arranging a filling hole in the frame, then bonding a second plate onto the frame via application of pressure or by heating the entire surface, the space between the two plates being kept constant by rigid spacers (glass balls or rods) deposited within the frame.
The liquid material is introduced into the enclosure by suction after having previously made vacuum in the enclosure. Certain methods are proposed for filling several cells in a single operation, either by stacking them, or by cutting out of the batch a strip of cells with all their holes aligned. In both cases, the last manufacturing step always requires individual treatment of the cells for insertion of the sealing plugs, generally formed of a different material to that used for manufacturing the frame.
In JP Patent Application No. 61-217018, the method described allows filling of four cells arranged in a star to be effected at one time, the filling holes being directed towards the centre where a hole has been made in one of the plates to allow the active liquid material to be introduced, said hole being subsequently sealed by a plug. This method has the drawback of requiring an additional machining operation and remains limited as regards the number of cells able to obtained with a simple geometrical shape.